A party-list lawmaker on Monday welcomed the arrest order issued by the Valenzuela Metropolitan Trial Court Branch 109 against officials of Allied Care Experts (ACE) Medical Center in Valenzuela City, who were allegedly involved in the “palit-ulo” scheme.
“Palit-ulo” is the illegal detention of relatives of confined or deceased patients and withholding of death certificate and other relevant medical documents due to unsettled bills, forcing those detained to find a replacement before they are allowed to leave the hospital premises.
AGRI party-list group Rep. Wilbert Lee, who earlier filed House Resolution 1674 to probe this unethical practice, said the arrest order was a “good development.”
“Someone should be held accountable immediately for this demonic practice so it will stop and never happen again. Those responsible should be jailed. Think about it: the relative is already grief-stricken for losing someone and he will still be placed under hospital arrest?” said Lee.
In his House Resolution, Lee—a member of the House committee on public accounts—pointed out that those involved in this practice must be held criminally liable for Serious Illegal Detention and Slight Illegal Detention under the Revised Penal Code.
Lee further reiterated the need for a comprehensive and in-depth investigation on the issue, as the Valenzuela City Mayor Weslie Gatchalian recently presented two more victims of the “palit-ulo” scheme from the same hospital.
“Congress should immediately investigate this illegal practice to find out how long it has been going on and how many other hospitals are doing it. Probably, there are many more unreported cases related to this, and we hope that other victims will come forward to share their experience,” he said.
Gatchalian bared the issue in a press conference early last April after receiving serious complaints from the relatives of ACE Medical Center patients, who died under its care, that they were held against their will after failing to fully settle their hospital bills.
“With the myriad challenges that our countrymen face such as the unabated high prices of goods, the Filipino people deserve better services. That’s why we should demand better,” Lee underscored.
